How do I backfill over an old garage door?

Question

I have a house where an old garage door is closed in and I want to backfill to make the ground more level. What is the best way to add a vapor barrier to the old garage door before backfilling to avoid and moisture problems? I plan to backfill about 3 ft high to cover the old door, but need to add some kind of vapor wall before covering....

Answer 1

If you are completely abandoning the door, take it out and frame the opening in.  You would then nail plywood to the studs, then you can Tyvek over the plywood.  Finally, cover it with siding to match the house.  Insulate it from the inside, and apply a 6 mil vapor barrier to that.  Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Backfilling against an abandoned garage door will put too much stress on the door, possibly causing the door to collapse.  Removing the door and wood framing the opening then backfilling, even with visquene (plastic) sheeting will eventually cause this portion of the wall to rot.

There is a reason we do not use wood below grade and that is it will always rot.  If you really must backfill against this area the only sure way it will not cause problems is to replace the garage door with a reinforced concrete wall a minimum of 6" thick.  You should contact your local building department on rebar size and spacing and footing depths and dimensions as this is based on your location.